Removing Pool Top Rail

by Steve
(MI)

The top rail on our 16X28 Dough boy pool needs to be painted and we have an auto repair guy who will to do the painting.

The question would be how much top rail can be removed at one time when the pool is full? Would this be something we should put off until fall when the pool is not full. We don't want the vertical post to shift.

Hi Steve. With a round pool you can usually get away with removing a rail or two if you really needed to. The wall does spread a bit and sometimes it takes several people pulling to get the rail holes lined back up.

With an oval pool I wound not try it. The water pressure acts a little different, especially at the corners, and chances are real good you would never get the holes lined up again.

With a pool half full of water, it's a whole different story. You could remove all the rails at one time and take them in to the paint shop. Putting them back on would not be a problem.

I put a new liner in for a guy that had just got his rails back from a friends auto paint shop. They looked great. He had them sand blasted and then painted and they came out looking better than new.

Removing Caps

by Dave
(Bastrop, Tx USA)

I want to replace a top railing on my 18 year old Doughboy above ground pool. How do I remove the caps between the rails?

Hi Dave. Caps for above ground pools can be attached in a number of different ways. Many have main screw that goes right down the center into the top cap. Some may have a center screw that holds the inside piece in place and the outside slides over it hiding the screw head. The outside piece is then held in place with screw on the outside of the upright.

Some caps are not held in place with anything, they just snap on and off. Another type of cap will have the outside piece attached to the pool upright and the upper piece fits into it and then snaps over the top rails.

If you are unable to get it off, let me know with a comment entry, and I will work with you to get a photo.

Comments for

Removing Caps

My above ground pool has caps with exposed screw down centers. None of them seem to come out. They moved slightly but feel locked.

Hi Dan They are probably rusted in place, try letting them soak in WD-40.

May 21, 2015

MYSTERY POST CAPSby: Lauri

I bought a used pool from CL and cannot figure out how the post caps come off. I've already broken one because it looked as if they snapped on/off. No apparent screws except for one under the rail connectors.

Would like to submit photos... is this possible?

Hi Lauri There are a lot of caps that just snap on and off. There were some made by Doughboy and Lomart that we had to unpack and sit in the sun while we installed the pool. Without some sun to warm them, on a chilly day, they would snap in two as we installed them. As we progressed into the warmer part of the summer they were fine.

Feb 28, 2017

taking off capsby: Anonymous

Do you need any type of tool to remove snap on caps. Just don't want break them.